Providing universal preschool has become an important lobbying point for federal, state, and local leaders throughout our country. In his 2013 State of the Union address, President Obama called upon congress to provide high quality preschool for all children. He continued to support universal preschool in his legislative agenda, and in December 2014 the President convened state and local policymakers for the White House Summit on Early Education (White House Press Secretary, 2014).

However, universal preschool covering all four-year olds in the country would require significant funding. Further, how effective preschools are in preparing children for elementary school, and what constitutes high quality early childhood education have been debated.

To set criteria for designation as a high quality preschool, the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) identifies 10 standards (NAEYC, 2016). These include:

• Positive relationships among all children and adults are promoted.
• A curriculum that supports learning and development in social, emotional, physical, language, and cognitive areas.
• Teaching approaches that are developmentally, culturally and linguistically appropriate.
• Assessment of children’s progress to provide information on learning and development.
• The health and nutrition of children are promoted, while they are protected from illness and injury.
• Teachers possess the educational qualifications, knowledge, and commitment to promote children’s learning.
• Collaborative relationships with families are established and maintained.
• Relationships with agencies and institutions in the children’s communities are established to support the program’s goals.
• The indoor and outdoor physical environments are safe and well-maintained.
• Leadership and management personnel are well qualified, effective, and maintain licensure status with the applicable state agency.

Parents should review preschool programs using the NAEYC criteria as a guide and template for asking questions that will assist them in choosing the best program for their child.

Selecting the right preschool is also difficult because there are so many types of preschools available. Zachry (2013) identified Montessori, Waldorf, Reggio Emilia, High Scope, Creative Curriculum and Bank Street as types of early childhood education programs that focus on children learning through discovery. Other early childcare options include the Ascend Curriculum, Educare, and Parent Cooperatives. While not an exhaustive list of all early childcare options, examining these programs gives us an idea of different approaches to early learning in a preschool or childcare setting. Teachers act as facilitators of children’s learning and development and create activities based on the child’s developmental level. The following tables and videos summarize key characteristics of these early childhood programs.^[1]

Program	Founder	Characteristics
Ascend Curriculum[2]	Cadence Education	Combines skill-based learning across 9 learning domains with a focus on helping children think critically, solve problems and become more independent. Teachers use a combination of facilitated small-group activities and center-based play experiences.

Video describes the Ascend Curriculum and how it prepares students for elementary school.

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Program	Founder	Characteristics
Bank Street[3]	Lucy Sprague Mitchell	Also referred to as the Developmental- Interactionist Approach Environment is arranged into learning centers Focus on hands-on experience with long periods of time given Teacher uses questions to further children’s exploration Blocks are primary material in the classroom Field trips are frequently used

Video describes the Bank Street approach.

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Program	Founder	Characteristics
Creative Curriculum[4]	Diane Trister Dodge	Focus on children’s play and self-selected activities Environment is arranged into learning areas Large blocks of time are given for self-selected play Uses projects as basis for curriculum Is researched based and includes assessment system

In this video, Child Development Curriculum specialist Becky Sanchez outlines the Creative Curriculum approach. 

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Program	Founder	Characteristics
Educare[5]	Start Early & the Irving Harris Foundation	Programs are part of a learning network that partners with historically disinvested communities. Four core features are data utilization, embedded professional development, high-quality teaching practices and intensive family engagement.

Video celebrates 10 years of Educare, highlighting core characteristics of this approach to early childhood education.

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Program	Founder	Characteristics
High Scope[6]	David Weikart	Features defined learning areas Has 8 content areas with 58 key developmental indicators Consistency of daily routine is important Uses plan-do-review sequence in which they make a plan, act on it, and then reflect on the results Teachers are partners and use the Child Observation Record (COR) to help assess children and plan curriculum Utilizes 6 step process to teach children conflict resolution

Video describes the High Scope Approach. 

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Program	Founder	Characteristics
Montessori[7]	Dr. Maria Montessori	Refers to children’s activity as work (not play); children are given long periods of time to work Focus on individual learning Features child-sized furniture and defined work areas Materials are carefully chosen and introduced to children by teacher Features mixed-aged grouping Teachers should be certified

Video briefly describes the history of Montessori schools and outlines key characteristics of the approach.

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Program	Founder	Characteristics
Parent Cooperative[8]		Program is organized by a group of families with similar educational philosophies who have the joint decision-making authority to establish and change policy, personnel, and program practices. Parents assist in the classroom on a rotating basis.

Video offers an example of a parent cooperative. 

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Program	Founder	Characteristics
Reggio Emilia[9]	Loris Malaguzzi	Teachers and children co-construct the curriculum Teachers are researchers Environment is the third teacher and features beauty and order Children’s learning is documented through the multiple methods (100 languages of children) Have atelier (art studio) with an atelierista (artist) to instruct children Believe children are competent and capable Children stay together for 3 years Parents partner with teachers Community is extension of school

Video briefly describes the history of Reggio Emilia and outlines key characteristics of the approach.

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Program	Founder	Characteristics
Waldorf[10]	Rudolf Steiner	Focus on whole child Features connections to nature, sensory learning, and imagination Provides large blocks of time for play Delay formal academic instruction Environment protects children from negative influences Relationships are important so groupings last for several years (looping) Teachers should be certified

Video briefly describes the history of  Waldorf schools and outlines key characteristics of the approach.